Create gorgeous Aurora Borealis Scrape art with a treescape or mountainscape silhouette. This is a fun and creative Winter art project for kids with lots of room for creativity and experimentation, and the result looks so pretty!
Are you lucky enough to have seen the Northern Lights, or Aurora Borealis, in real life?
I’m not. In Australia, we occasionally experience the lesser-known Aurora Australis, but you need to be in the right place at the right time to see that too.
I’ve only seen photos and videos, and it looks so pretty that I decided to make an Aurora Borealis artwork using a scrape painting technique combined with some sponge dabbing.
Not quite as amazing as the real thing, but I love how these artworks turned out. Each scrape art Aurora is unique.
There are two silhouette horizons to choose from in our template, a mountainscape and a treescape.
The treescape needs to be placed at the base of the page, but the mountainscape art has the option of the base of the page or partway up so the scrape art aurora appears to be reflected in water. To create a mirror lake reflection, you need to scrape paint in two directions.
This activity is recommended for kids aged 7 and up, although younger kids could make it with some adult help.
Let’s make it …
How to make Aurora Borealis Scrape Art
You will need
- Art paper in A4 or US Letter size (or use a larger sheet cut in half)
- Black card stock or paper
- Ordinary paper to print on
- Large craft sticks
- Round sponge brush or a piece of sponge
- Scissors
- Glue stick
- Bulldog clips or paper clips
- Acrylic Paint
- Posca pen (or use acrylic paint and a fine-tipped brush)
- Newspaper or similar to protect table surface
- The Aurora Borealis Art Template, available from our printables store and TPT store
How To
Print out the horizon silhouette outline you wish to use. Place your art paper over a sheet of newspaper or similar to catch the mess.
Use the sponge brush to create a gradient look at the top and side edges of the page from dark blue to a lighter blue. Leave a large section of white space in the middle.
Squirt white paint plus your aurora colours across the base of the page. Also squirt a few lines of paint further up the page to get aurora light effects. You’re free to experiment here.
Use a craft stick to scrape the paint from the base up through the gradient sky and over the top edge of the page. Allow to dry.
Clip the printed outline to black card stock and cut it out.
Glue this to the base of the page.
Use a Posca pen to dot stars of different shapes around the top edges of the page (in the dark blue paint section).
Mirror Lake Variation
When creating the gradient with a sponge brush, put it all the way around the edges of the page. Keep the centre white.
Squirt paint across the page, approximately a third of the way up.
Scrape in two directions, upwards and downwards.
Glue the silhouette over the section where the paint was squirted across the page. The image below is from a different scrape that had already dried.
I love how these turned out!
More Winter Art Ideas for Kids
- Create a gorgeous Sponge Painted Winter Landscape
- Make 3D Polar Bear Pattern Art using our template
- We also have 3D Penguin Pattern Art
Arty Projects for All Seasons
